Louisville fire-truck collision leaves one dead and five injured

One man was killed and five others were transported to the hospital with injuries following a collision with a car and a Louisville Fire & Rescue truck on Thursday. The collision was reported around 8:45 a.m. on the Algonquin Parkway (near McCloskey Ave.). Authorities and news station WDRB report that the fire truck was responding to an emergency call and had its lights and sirens on at the time of the collision. The truck collided with the vehicle, a Mercury, driven by 61-year old Larry Carter, who was unfortunately killed in the crash. Authorities

Local authorities, including Metro Police spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said that there was a stop sign at the scene, and the fire truck had the right-of-way, especially since it was an emergency situation. After colliding with the car, the fire truck ran off the roadway (leaving noticeable skid-marks on the road, hours after the crash) and hit a brick sign and a tree before coming to rest.

A female passenger in the car was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and all four crew members on the fire truck were also taken to the hospital for evaluation for minor injuries caused in the crash. It is always devastating for family members of injured or deceased individuals to have to deal with the loss of a loved one, and is even more troubling when the accident occurs with an emergency vehicle.

While the spokespeople for the department believe that the fire truck had the right-of-way and the collision may have been the fault of the driver of the car, there are still legal issues that inevitably must be settled following any serious accident. Does the family need to hire a lawyer in Louisville? Does the accident need to be investigated further to determine who is at fault?

In some cases, people may say the answer to these questions is yes. The family may be entitled to pursue a personal injury lawsuit against the city for the crash that killed their loved one. They may be entitled to compensation for the loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and other losses caused by the tragic collision.

Ultimately, it is the family’s decision of how they want to handle the aftermath of the accident and whether they want to pursue legal action against the city for the death of their loved one, or whether they wish to simply let the issue go. Only the family can decide what action (if any) they wish to take, and they will ultimately have to deal with the issues that follow a tragic accident like this one.